B. Julie Johnson fears that genetic engineering will result in the devaluing of life because genes, embryos, and ultimately people will all be thought of as commodities to be bought and sold (Bender, 17). Test tube birth is mostly controversial because of religious and ethical reasons. People wonder if test tube babies will have souls or if they will go to a form of afterlife when they die.

"In our society there are two values which will allow anyone to do whatever he/she wants in human reproduction," said ethicist Daniel Callahan. "One is the nearly absolute right to reproduce-or not- as you s

By law, naturally occurring organisms are not patenable. However, in April 1988, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) declared that a mouse in which experimenters inserted a gene associated with cancer was a "manmade invention". The land mark mouse patent caused so much controversy that several bills for a moratorium on animal patents have since been unsuccessfully introduced. Meanwhile, in May 1992, Gen-Pharm International, a silicon Valley biotech company announced that USPTO would soon grant it the world's second and third patents on mammals. One of the patents is for a genetically modified mouse that lacks part of its immune system; the second for a mouse programmed to be more susceptible to cancer. More than 150 additional applications for animal patents are currently pending (Bender, 90). The goal of the experiments is usually to find new ways of creating substances organs that can be used in humans (Stanley, 12). Andrew Kimbrell, attorney for the Foundation on Economic Trends said, "Genetic engineering is to traditional crossbreeding what the nuclear bomb was to the sword" (Bender, 19-20)

Genetic engineering is more than experiments on animals. It is also used to create more perfect plants. The goal is to develop crops that are resistant to diseases or insects. They also can produce more seeds, more or better fruit, or a bigger overall harvest. By tinkering with the genetic makeup of plants, scientist can encourage desired traits and eliminate unwanted ones. The traits may be things that natural selection would have removed because they do not support the continued existence of the species. These plants

Some common words found in the essay are:
Recombinant DNA, Trends Genetic, Gen-Pharm International, California February, Julie Johnson, Freeland Judson, Gene Gallatta, Dictionary Genetic, Office USPTO, Department Agriculture, recombinant dna, genetic engineering, encarta encyclopedia, recombinant dna technology, dna technology, genetic material, yount 38, test tube, animal patents,
Approximate Word count = 1111
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)